volume one

201 KISTOHY OF THE CEUSADES.
At the time of the crusades, Jerusalem formed, as it does
at present, a square, rather longer than \\-ide, of about a
leao'ue in cii'cuinference. It extends over four hills : on
the east the 2loriah, upon which the mosque of Omar was
built in the place of the temple of Solomon ; on the south
and Avest the Acra, Avhich occupied the whole width of the
city ; on the north the Bezetlia, or the new cit j ; and on the
north-west the Golgotha, or Calvary, which the Greeks considered
to be the centre of the world, and upon which was
built the church of the Hesurreetion. In the state in which
Jerusalem then was it had lost much of its strength and extent.
Mount Sion no longer arose within its enclosure and
dominated over its walls between the south and west. The
three vallevs which surrounded the ramparts had been in
many places filled up by Adrian, and the access to the place
was much less difficult, particularly on the northern side.
Nevertheless, as Jerusalem under the Saracens had had to
sustain several sieges, and as it was at all times exposed to
fresh attacks, its fortifications had not been neglected. The
Egyptians, who had had possession of it for several months,
took advantage of the tardiness of the Christian army to put
it in a state of defence.
"WTiilst the Crusaders were advancing slowly towards the
city, the lieutenant of the caliph, Iftikhar-Eddaulah, ravaged
the neighbouring plains, burnt the villages, filled up or poisoned
the cisterns, and surrounded himself with a desert in
which the Christians must find themselves a prey to all kinds
of misery. He caused provisions for a long siege to be
transported into the place ; he caUed upon all Mussulmans
to come to the defence of Jerusalem, and employed a great
number of workmen, day and night, to construct machines
of war, to raise the walls, and repair the towers. The garrison
of the citv amounted to fortv thousand men, and
twenty thousand of the inliabitants took up arms.
At the approach of the Christians, some detachments of
infidels had come out from Jerusalem to observe the march
and proceedings of the enemy, but were repulsed by Baldwin
description of Jerusalem may be seen in the extracts from the Arabian
history of Jerusalem and Hebron, translated into French and inserted in
the German J ouinal, entitled " The Mines of the Eaist."